NEWS RELEASES:

Free Prostate Screenings

Free exams for early detection of prostate cancer will be available at the Saint John's Cancer Center, 2020 Meridian St., Anderson, on Saturday, Sept. 27.

To schedule an exam, men must make an appointment in advance by calling the Madison County chapter of the American Cancer Society at 642-6603.  Appointments are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men.  An estimated 232,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and more than 30,000 men will die from the disease.  The American Urological Association and the Prostate Cancer Education Council recommend that men between the ages of 50 and 70 undergo an annual prostate evaluation.

The free exams will consist of a digital rectal examination (DRE) and a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test, each of which takes about one minute to perform. The combination of these two tests is the most effective method for detecting prostate cancer at an early stage, before it has escaped the prostate gland.

(Sept. 1, 2008)